On a personal note…

You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here this summer. Or maybe you haven’t noticed at all. I’m not actually sure which is worse…

At any rate, it’s because all summer long, I’ve felt like I’ve been trying to wade through molasses. Usually, it takes me about a week after school lets out to bounce back and be ready to take on summer adventures. But this summer I never have bounced back. I’ve felt sad, tired, and the entire gamut of emotions between those two.

I finally put together that something wasn’t right – could it be the early stages of the change of life? So I decided to visit a new doctor, one who practices a slightly different type of medicine. I’m not sure if holistic is the accurate word, but she does an extensive blood panel before the first visit, and then uses that to inform decisions about which medications and supplements a person needs. I’d used a doctor like her in the past, and credit him for bringing me out of a hypothyroid, B-vitamin deficient slump several years ago.

Anyway, long story short, she hit me with some news I wasn’t quite expecting. My DHEA levels were super-low, and my D-vitamin was, in her words, “tragically low.” Which all means that I’m stressed out, I don’t get nearly enough sun, and to top it all off, the symptoms I’m experiencing mean that my hypothyroidism has developed into Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Or the other way around. I’m not sure which came first. Bottom line, quoting her again, “Start saying no. Tell them your doctor says you can’t take on anything else until you get this under control.”

The problem with that? I’m my own worst stress inducer. I’m the one I have to start saying “no” to. And that’s really hard, because I seem to *need* to always have several irons in the fire. Take this website, for example. I’ve been working my tushie off trying to get it “up and running,” though I’m still not sure what that should look like, while working my full-time job. Something’s got to give.

So you may notice things slowing down a bit more than they have been around here. For example, I’ve been trying my darnedest to get the July workshop kit ready. I still need to finish the PDF instructions for the layout kit and the card kit, and I’m working on a video for the first time ever to go along with the layout kit . Next week I’ll be in Atlanta for the CHA PaperArts show, so you know what? July’s kit will have to become August’s kit. And that’s ok. It will have to be.

The good news is – this condition is treatable. I WILL feel better at some point. I WILL regain my energy and spark. But it’s going to take time, and I’m going to have to learn a new system of self-care. I hope you’ll stick around with me while I do that. There are great things in store, just you wait and see.